brazelle



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nu' nn v (N0 Modem 2-Sheets-Sheet 2.-

' v B. BRAZELLE.

APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING GAS. -N0.-365,Z94. PatentedJunZl, 1887.

5. I Ol 17 i v15 Wz'iiiesses:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.BENJAMIN BRAZELLE, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI;

APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING GAS.

arncrrrcnrron forming part of Letters Patent No. 365,294, dated June 21, 1am.

Applicationfiled November 2, 1886. Serial No. 217,786. (No mt dul.)

"To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN BRAZELLE, of St. Louis, in the county of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Apparatus for the Manufacture of Gas, of which improvements the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the manufacture of gas by the decomposition of steam in its pas-v as advantageously utilized in the generation v of steam.

To this end my invention, generally stated, consists in certain novel combinations, includ ing a furnace or combustion-chamber inclosing two compartments separated by a dividing wall or partition, a steam-boiler located above and subject to the action of the heat of said furnace, a grate fixed in the furnace, a valve governing the passage of the products of combustion through the boiler-tubes, and a pair of regenerator-chambers communicating with the furnace below its grate and provided with valves whereby the products of combustion may be passed alternately through the regenerator-charnbers.

The improvements claimed are hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical central section through an apparatus embodying my invention, and Fig. 2 a horizontal section through the same at-the line mm of Fig. 1.

In the practice of my invention I provide a furnace or combustion-chamber, l, which is preferably of cylindrical form and is composed of fire-brick inclosed in a gas-tight casing of boiler-iron. The furnace is ;divided by avertical wall or partition, 2, of fire-brick extending upwardly from its bottom for the major portion of its height intotwo compartments, 3 4, each of which is provided with'an upper charging-door, 5, and a draft-door, 6, at or near its bottom. .The topof the fnrnace,which is open, is contracted or reduced in diameter to form a throat, 7, and a steam-boiler, 8, is

fixed upon its top, completely surrounding and inclosing the throat 7. Aserics of fire-tubes, 9, extending from a lower tube-sheet,10, to an upper tube-sheet, 11, communicate at their lower ends with the throat 7 and at their upper ends with the uptake or discharge-flue 12 of the boiler, which is governed by avalve, 13.

The furnace is provided with a continuous tubular grate, 14, composed ofa pipe or connected series of pipes extending across the lower'portion of the compartments 3 4, said grate communicating by a connection passing through the wall of one of the compartments with a feed-water pipe, 15, and at its opposite end with a discharge-pipe, 16, leading through the wall of the other compartment to a con nection with the boiler 8 near the bottom thereof;

The compartment 4 communicates by a passage, 17, below the grate 14 with a vertical regenerator-chamber, 18, formed of firebrick inclosed in a gas-tight iron casing and having avalve, 19, at top, the interior of said chamber above the passage 17 being filled with a checker-work or looselypiled mass of tire brick, 20, into the upper portion of which a pipe, 21, governed by a valve, 22, leads from the steamspace of the boiler 8. The compartment 3 communicates by a passage, 23, below the grate, with a similar regenerator-chamber, 24, filled with checker-work 25, and closed at top by a valve, 26, controlling agas-discharge pipe, 27, leading to a suitable gas holder or receiver. Au air-blast pipe, 28, fitted with a valve or gate, 29, is led into the upperportion of the regenerator-chamber 24.

In operation, water being supplied to the grate l4, and to a proper level in the boiler 8, and'the combustion-chamber 1 being charged with fuel which is ignited, the valve 13 and draft-doors 6 are opened, and steam is generated in the boiler to a sufficient pressure to operate a blower. The valve 13 and doors .6 are then closed, and the valve 19 of the regenerator-chamber 18 and valve 29, controlling the air-blast pipe 28 of the regenerator-chamber 24, are opened. Air is then forced in from the blast-pipe 28 to the regenerator-chamber 24, and through the passage 23 into the com partment 3 of the combustion-chamber 1, passing upwardly through the fuel in the compartment 3, and thence over the top of the dividing-wall 2,downwardly through the fuel in the compartment 4, and through the passage 17 into the regeuerator-chamber 18. The airblast is continued until the fuel in the combustion-chamber has been brought to and maintained in an incandescent condition fora sufficient period to raise the checker-work 20 of the regenerator-chamber1S to a high de gree of heat by the action of the products of combustion, which pass through the same and escape at the valve 19. The regenerator-valve 19 and air-blast valve 29 are then closed, and the gasdischarge valve 26 being opened,steam from the boiler is admitted to the heated checker-work 20 by the valve 22, and,passing downward through the same and upward and downward through theincandescent fuel inthe compartments of the combustion-chamber, is decomposed, the resultant gases, in their passage through the checker-work 25 of the regeneralor-chamber 24, heating the same to a high degree,aud being themselves correspondingly reduced in temperature before passing out through the gas-d1scharge pipe 27. After a period has elapsed sufficient to require a renewal of the blast on the fuel, the valves 26 and 22 are closed, and the valves 19 and 29'being opened, the operation first described is repeated. The feed-water is pumped into the hollow grate 14 from the .pipe 15, and in circulating through the grate becomes heated to a high degree before passing therefrom by the discharge-pipe 16 to the boiler, and generation of steam is maintained by the direct action of the radiant heat of the combustionchamber upon the boiler during the entire course of the operation.

The state of the art to which my invention relates indicates that a generating-chamber divided into separate compartments, a generating-chamber and separate regcnerators communicating therewith, and a gcneratingehambcr discharging its products of combustion continuousl y through the tubes of a superposed steam'boiler were severally known prior to my invention, and such devices, therefore, I hereby disclaim. I am not, however, aware ofa prior construction such as herein set forth and claimed, or equivalent means, for preliminarily applying the heat of the combustionehamber in the rapid generation of steam by passing the products of combustion through the boiler-tubes and thereafter utilizing the direct radiant heat of the combustion-chamber during the decomposition of steam for the continuous generation thereof.

The advantages attained by my invention are the provision of a compact and comparatively inexpensive structure and an economical utilization of the fuel employed.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In an apparatus for the manufacture of gas, the combination, substantially as set forth, of a combustion-chamber having an opening at its top, avertical wall or partition dividing said chamber into two compartments communicating at top, a grate located in the lower portion of each of said com partments,a steamboiler covering the top of the combustionchamber, a valve governing the passage of the products of combustion through the tubes of the boiler, and a pair of regenerator-chambers each connected by a passage or channel with a compartment of the combustionchamber below the grate thereof.

2. In an apparatus for the manufacture of gas, the combination, substantially as set forth, of a steam-boiler, a combustion-chainbcr divided by a wall or partition into two compartments communicating at top, a grate lo cated in the lower portion of each of said compartments, a regenerator-chamber communicating with each of said compartments below the grate, each of said chambers being fitted with a dischargevalve, an air-blastvalve controlling a pipe communicating with one of the regenerator chambers, and a steam supply valve controlling a pipe leading into the other regencrater-chamber.

3. In an apparatus for the manufacture of gas, the combination, substantially as set forth, of a combustion -chamber having an upper throat or opening,a steam-boiler located above and covering said threat, a wall or partition dividing the combustion chamber into two compartments communicating at top, a grate BENJAMIN BRAZE LLE.

Vitnesses:

SIM T. PRICE, Lucius P. New N. 

